Pro Cycling

10 Best Rides of 2012

Joaquim Rodriguez’s Virtuoso Lombardy Victory

10 / 10

The Race of the Falling Leaves became a race of attrition this year as cold rain and wind reduced the field to only 60 finishers of the 199 who started. A tactical, technical race, it was ideally suited to Rodriguez, perhaps the best one-day rider in the sport. While other riders attacked, only to be brought back, or crashed out on slick corners, Rodriguez waited patiently, pouncing on the day’s final climb for a small gap and a solo win over a stacked chase group that included the Olympic runner-up, Rigoberto Uran, and winners of two of the three Grand Tours in 2012, Ryder Hesjedal and Alberto Contador.